This book is the only comprehensive bibliography of Canadian folklore in English. The 3877 different items are arranged by genres: folktales; folk music and dance; folk speech and naming; superstitions, popular beliefs, folk medicine, and the supernatural; folk life and customs; folk art and material culture; and within genres by ethnic groups: Anglophone and Celtic, Francophone, Indian and Inuit, and other cultural groups. The items include reference books, periodicals, articles, records, films, biographies of scholars and informants, and graduate theses. Each items is annotated through a coding that indicates whether it is academic or popular, its importance to the scholar, and whether it is suitable for young people. The introduction includes a brief survey of Canadian folklore studies, putting this work into academic and social perspective.

The book covers all the important items and most minor items dealing with Canadian folklore published in English up to the end of 1979. It is concerned with legitimate Canadian folklore – whether transplanted from other countries and preserved here, or created here to reflect the culture of this country. It distinguishes between authentic folklore presented as collected and popular treatments in which the material has been rewritten by the authors.

Intended primarily for scholars of folklore, international as well as Canadian, the book will also be of use to scholars in anthropology, cultural geography, oral history, and other branches of Canadian culture studies, as well as to librarians, teachers, and the general public.

Edith Fowke (1913-1996) was a professor in the Department of English, York University and a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the American Folklore Society. She is the author of many books and articles on Canadian folk songs and children's lore, and was the editor of Folklore Canada and the Canadian Folk Music Journal.

Edith Fowke's profile page

Carole Henderson-Carpenter is a professor in the Department of Humanities, York University. She has a doctorate in Folklore-Folklife Studies. She is the author of Many Voices: A Study of Folklore Activities in Canada and Their Role in Canadian Culture and many articles on Canadian folklore, and edits Canadian Folklore Canadien.

Carole Henderson-Carpenter's profile page